Lorain County students to be subjected to higher standards of testing, officials say

LORAIN -- Ohio high school students will have new tests to pass if they want to graduate.

But anyone hoping to learn what is on those exams will have to wait.

The Ohio Department of Education and Ohio University System Board of Regents this week announced an agreement on a new group of tests that will replace the Ohio Graduation Test in 2014-15.

The plan "will transform the current high school testing system from minimal standards to a system of higher expectations that will clearly define college and career readiness for Ohio's graduates," the state educators announced.

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Students will take a nationally standardized college readiness test -- possibly the ACT or SAT -- and 10 end-of-course or end-of-year exams in English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, according to state officials.

"It will be a whole new landscape," said Mike Tomlin-Brenner, curriculum director at Clearview Local Schools.

He and other area educators said the tests will be part of higher standards in schools across the nation.

Ohio is part of PARCC, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a consortium of 23 states where educators are developing new tests to measure student knowledge. The changes in academic standards and student testing come in part as state educators react to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

"All this is new and it's probably more than the state has taken on in its history" in education, Michael Molnar said, executive director of educational services for Amherst schools.

"The question is, how does all this get done with curriculum directors, principals and teachers? There's more being put on our plate than ever before," Molnar said.

That is a good thing for American students, he added.

"We absolutely agree that we want to raise our expectations and have our students ready for the 21st century," Molnar said. "But how much do you take on at one time is really the question for us."

In Ohio, the OGT will be replaced by 10 end-of-the course exams in English I, II and III; algebra I; geometry; algebra II; biology; physical science; American history; and American government.

The changes are works in progress, but they will have effects in the classroom for teachers and students, the curriculum developers said.

"That's going to be a big change, that algebra 2 for every kid," Tomlin-Brenner said. "At present it seems a majority of kids will have to pass an algebra 2 test."

Many good school districts already are teaching many of the subjects that will be in the new standards, said Michael Laub, superintendent of Avon Local Schools.

Schools should not plan to teach to the test, but the tests and school lessons should be aligned, he said.

"The test should measure the outcome of what we want students to know when they take that course," Laub said. "We need to make sure we are teaching the things that are important to our students and the test hopefully will measure that."

Students and parents can expect classes and tests to become more rigorous and go deeper into coursework, said Ann Scholoss, director of academic services for Elyria City Schools.

The students' marks also will become part of their course grades and part of the measurements state officials use to create Ohio school district report cards.

It was unclear exactly what would happen if students fail the tests.

Local school districts likely will retain discretion over grading, but there is not a definitive plan as to how the state test scores will affect the grades teachers award to students, said Greg Ludwig, director of operations and secondary curriculum for Avon Lake schools.

"So there's a lot of question marks out there yet," he said. "It's easy to pursue a result once you get the information but without the information, it's very difficult to set something in motion."